Insult a fixed and get a ride partner for a fast commute

[GruB]

I had an ace commute in this morning.  Aside from the fact that it is a rare TCR day today, I met a new rider on my route.  I also love it when it is nice and crisp yet sunny to boot.

As I left Poulshot and turned into the main road I saw a rider to my left.  As he went by in front of me I noticed he was on fixed.  An old black bike with a bar bag on the front.  The rider was on the drops and motoring however.

I was coming from standstill having entered the main carriageway from the T junction so it took me a little while before I caught up.  That gave me time to think about what to say as I went by.
Thinking about yACF I had inspiration.

As I went by I smiled and clearly said "Your chain looks a bit slack" 

I then went onto the drops and put some power down with the intention of dropping him.

No.

I see his shadow on the ground so I didn't have to glance behind and give away my dismay that he was on my wheel.  Head down, off WE went.

When I turned left so did he.  This surprised me so I sat up and shouted back an enquiry as to how far and where he was going.  When I established it was the same route as me I was glad and got back to work.  This doesn't normally happen for me so I was determined to have some fun.

Head down we went off and to the motorists we must have looked like a 2 man TT.  Both of us were head down on the drops and our legs were pumping.  His more so than mine.  I only dropped him when we went down a small incline and I managed to put more power down as my legs were not coming off at the hips, unlike his.

With a mile to go we turned off onto a bus route road so as it was quiet we had a chat.

He made my day by enquiring of me "Do you race?"  - I don't care what he meant by that or whether he thought I should, the simple asking of that question when the world is awash with Olympic glory made me internally very happy.

It was an ace ace ace start to the day and one I hope to replicate again in the future, once my legs recover 

[Frenchie]

You made one wrong assumption Grub: Fixed are not that slow! 

Glad you had fun; think about his thought of staying with you on his old banger.     

You're guilty as charged PC Grub for throwing the challenge. 

[MSeries]

Thing is GruB his chain probably wasn't as slack as yours. Ride a fixed and make friends, and be a "Scenester"

[GruB]

You made one wrong assumption Grub: Fixed are not that slow! 

Glad you had fun; think about his thought of staying with you on his old banger.     

You're guilty as charged PC Grub for throwing the challenge. 

I knew he was quick but I didn't realise just how quick I needed to go to keep in front.  My legs now have that really satisfied 'used' feeling but it is my inane grin when I think about the fun that is scaring most of the secretariat. 

[Frenchie]

<picture Grub getting in the commissariat with a foaming mouth, blood injected eyes, popping out of their cavities, the tongue snatched by the teeth, themselves showing because of the big grin...>

 

A satisfied fixed rider. 

I manage to stay with some chaingangs on my fixed, and to average over 20-21 Mi/h on 35+ Mi on my own, and over 23 on a sporting 10 with a modest gear. And I am a bit "round"... or big boned. these things are fun; now you want one! 

[Gattopardo]

Boy racer.

[Snugsy]

You made one wrong assumption Grub: Fixed are not that slow! 

Slow downhill and on the flat (especially with a tailwind), fast (but painful) unphill.

[Greenbank]

Slow downhill and on the flat (especially with a tailwind), fast (but painful) unphill.

It gets easier with time; once your legs get used to both spinning and generating large amounts of torque at low cadence.

Looking at various GPX files from geared and fixed rides I tend to be faster over the majority of terrain although this is probably due to the fact I'm lazy when given the option (so on a geared bike I tend to take it easy in too low a gear, whilst on fixed I have no choice so I just get on with it).

[rae]

It gets easier with time; once your legs get used to both spinning and generating large amounts of torque at low cadence. 

I haven't found that yet.   Comparing back to back rides in Regent's park, fixed is both slower and harder work.   The big difference is the downslope on the west side - with gears you can hit 28 without overdoing it in the slightest, on the fixed you are murdering yourself trying to hold 24, and that is with an 81" gear.  The net result is that on the west/east flat bit at the bottom you are very fresh on gears and can really slap the power down. 

From rest, I'm probably a bit quicker on the fixed, and up hill, it is about the same - possibly slightly less effort on fixed. 

Oh yes, and going home you can do 40 in the Euston underpass with gears, 33 is my limit on fixed.

[Frenchie]

You made one wrong assumption Grub: Fixed are not that slow! 

Slow downhill and on the flat (especially with a tailwind), fast (but painful) unphill.

Slow on the flat?! I went through a set of speed cameras at 27 Mi/h over a longish flat ride recently (nice long drag, good surface, good visibility). On longer distances I hold over 20 Mi/h averages on my own. Not bad (on a 79'').

[Jacomus]

The cyclist makes a huge difference to the speed the bicycle moves at.

My average for a normal ride around Surrey is between 17 and 20mph depending on the hilliness.

Our average (Emily and Me) is 15-18mph around the same roads.

Go up against Bradley Wiggins and no matter what you are riding (motorbikes excluded!) or how hard you try, he will kick your @ss.

[bobb]

with gears you can hit 28 without overdoing it in the slightest, on the fixed you are murdering yourself trying to hold 24, and that is with an 81" gear.

You seriously need to sort your legs out! 28 on 81"? That's just trundling along!!

[GruB]

It gets easier with time; once your legs get used to both spinning and generating large amounts of torque at low cadence. 

I haven't found that yet.   Comparing back to back rides in Regent's park, fixed is both slower and harder work.   The big difference is the downslope on the west side - with gears you can hit 28 without overdoing it in the slightest, on the fixed you are murdering yourself trying to hold 24, and that is with an 81" gear.  The net result is that on the west/east flat bit at the bottom you are very fresh on gears and can really slap the power down. 

From rest, I'm probably a bit quicker on the fixed, and up hill, it is about the same - possibly slightly less effort on fixed. 

Oh yes, and going home you can do 40 in the Euston underpass with gears, 33 is my limit on fixed.

Are you still playing about with those cranks?

[rogerzilla]

with gears you can hit 28 without overdoing it in the slightest, on the fixed you are murdering yourself trying to hold 24, and that is with an 81" gear.

You seriously need to sort your legs out! 28 on 81"? That's just trundling along!!

I thought that...I can do 35 on 70", and I'm not a trackie.

As today was the first dry day for ages and ages, I rode the Fuji track bike to work.  It was the first commute I'd enjoyed for a long time - the Thorn really is a dull thing to ride, unresponsive and heavy.  Despite its stupidly skinny tyres and fag-paper geometry, the Fuji gives a smoother ride; carbon forks help, and the lack of mudguards eliminates any rattles.

[Wendy]

You seriously need to sort your legs out! 28 on 81"? That's just trundling along!!

Even I can do 38 on 66", and I'm sure I'm nowhere near as fast as most of you.

[rae]

You seriously need to sort your legs out! 28 on 81"? 

Yes, I can do it, heck I can do 33 on 81", but it is bloody hard work.  I'll post the back to back HR and speed graphs when I have a moment, the difference is pretty clear from the saddle.  I'm a load slower on fixed, and I can't accept the argument "geared is what you are used to" because I've ridden nothing but fixed all year.  Remember, I have big legs, while they are more than capable of banging out torque (very few people, geared or otherwise can beat me from rest), I don't spin at insane speeds.

Are you still playing about with those cranks? 

Not at the moment - I'm focusing on a triathlon bike bit in about 4 weeks time, and flat out power for 25 miles is all I am interested in.  That said, they have taught me a huge amount about smooth pedalling action, and the drive train goes silent when you get it right.

Slow downhill and on the flat 

I'd generally agree with this.  Maybe it is the london poseurs, but once you're on the far side of 25, not many of the fixers stick with you.

[bobb]

33 on 81"? You need to sort yout legs out! 

[Greenbank]

33 on 81"? You need to sort yout legs out! 

Maintaining 137rpm for long periods is pretty hard work.

Still thinking about the Powercranks...

[Deano]

On Saturday, we were dropping downhill into Helmsley, and I was going about 30-35 mph on my 68" gear. 

The other lads freewheeled past me, and Tiermat said (I think) "If you tuck in you'll go faster".

I didn't want to go any faster.  I was going quite quickly enough. 150+rpm for more than a mile is hard.

[Frenchie]

You seriously need to sort your legs out! 28 on 81"? That's just trundling along!!

I thought that...I can do 35 on 70", and I'm not a trackie.

For how long can you maintain it? Was it on the flat or or a downhill?

I think that the message is getting confused here. Of course it ain't hard to hit 36+ Mi/h on a MG (72'') on a downhill.

When I referred to 27 Mi/h above this is for a significantly long stretch of flat road and on a bigger gear than a 72''. When I TT I'll be averaging between 90-115 RPM on fixed and 23-24Mi/h average I'd say.

[fuzzy]

The cyclist makes a huge difference to the speed the bicycle moves at.

I could not agree more. None of my bikes move very fast (or far) without me on them

[border-rider]

I'd generally agree with this.  Maybe it is the london poseurs, but once you're on the far side of 25, not many of the fixers stick with you.

depends on the gearing

Ride a biggish gear and you'll be just as fast on the flat.  On descents - it varies.  I can sometimes drop the gearies, sometimes I can't

I' ve certainly never felt slow on fixed on club runs or audax.   

[Wendy]

LOL, we are just teasing Rae, Frenchie. Of course it's hard to spin that fast, even downhill.

[rae]

Um, I was just referring to park racing in Regents park.

On the fixie, I'll do 21 uphill, 21 across the back (both hard work), then about 23 downhill (still hard work) and about 22 on the bottom flat (still hard work). 

In the geared, I'll do 21 uphill, 21 across the back, on the down hill I'll go for 53x11 and do a relaxed 25/26, then 23/24 across the bottom as I give it some welly.

It is very noticeable that a group who were caning me when I was on fixed...did not cane me at all when I was riding gears.

Even coming home up Pentonville road, on the fixed I struggle to get a sprint together at the bottom, then half way up I am finding it reasonably hard to turn the big gear - I'd like something a bit smaller.   On gears, I'll go flat out at the bottom (53x11 out of the saddle), blow 3/4 of the way up, then spin to the top.

I' ve certainly never felt slow on fixed on club runs or audax.     

For long distance constant speed, fixed is great.  I find it a lot harder if you are trying to eke out every bit of speed.  YMMV...